A sensible person is the one who thinks before he speaks. The words that shoot out of the mouth need to be pulled up with a leash called Intellect. There has to be a continuous connection between the Intellect and Mind. If there is a slightest misalignment there sure will be a “slip of the tongue”. Be it a King’s son or a President’s son the mind is always eager to put out words with the help of the tongue without consulting the intellect. One is safe when he is sure that the intellect is in gear before the mind steps on the accelerator called tongue.

At times it is my tongue that puts me in a fix and makes me feel embarrassed. After I have uttered those infamy words I wish I should not have used them. But alas! I am unable to retrieve them back. I have noticed this in my own life that to have a steady relationship with my family and friends, I have to scrutinise every word before I utter. The words need to be sieved and only the one which are constructive, affectionate, caring, cheering, kind, sincere and honest need to be conveyed out. I have to always remember that using the right words, at a right time, in a right place will add value to my talk and save me from humiliation.

Apologising after shooting unclean words out of the mouth without being weighed by the intellect would be like trying to flatten a sheet of paper after crumpling it. All though I need to have a huge heart to forgive a person who has used unforgiving words against me, but I should not expect him to have a big heart and forgive my disgraceful words instead I need to check on my words.

In a small hamlet there was a fellow who always had his foot in the mouth. He would talk senselessly and make others feel uncomfortable and hurt. When the elders confront him about the damage he has done he would feel sorry for being so insensitive. He then would plead pardon and promise to make corrections. But the next day was the same he would again talk rubbish and again the elders would take him to task. As routine he would apologise and this continued until the elders felt the Sadhu who lived on the mountains might put some sense into the man.

Sadhu patiently listened to the villagers and asked them to live the man with him. After the villagers went, Sadhu maharaj asked the man if he had his lunch as it was half pass two. The man answered in affirmative. Sadhu then gave the man a book and asked him to tear each page from it every five minutes and drop it down the cliff. The book had 50 pages and by the time he tore of the last page it was seven in the evening. Having done the job the man went to Sadhu who remained seated in silence. Sadhu offered him fruits, goat's milk and honey for dinner and asked him to meet him the next day morning.

The man thought there might be a profound intention behind tearing off the book and letting off the pages down the cliff and was eager to know about it in the morning. The next day morning the Sadhu asked him to get down the mountain and collect all the fifty pages he has dropped down the cliff last evening. The man was stunned and thought may be this Sadhu was a crazy man, then Sadhu told him just as it is difficult for anyone to get the pages back so is the unpleasant words that are spewed out of the mouth. Next time you wag your tongue make sure what comes out, whether it does good or harm.

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